M.S. Swaminathan
| Photo Credit: Illustration R. Rajesh
In 1990, when M.S. Swaminathan arrange his analysis centre in a small home in Kotturpuram in Chennai, I known as on him to investigate about publishing with Macmillan India. “I haven’t got past my first year and you’re sure I have a book in me?” he laughed.
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We went on to publish a e book a 12 months for the subsequent six years. Those had been very tough manuscripts to organize. The proceedings of a three-day ‘dialogue’ had been recorded, transcribed after which edited. I wearied of the repeated drafts and the “I can’t remember what I meant” remarks from contributors after we consulted them to confirm statements; however M.S.S. went on patiently, “Let’s put it this way…” Not as soon as did he maintain me ready or push his proofs on to another person. While leafing by way of images and articles I got here throughout an uncommon web page in {a magazine}. A passport-size {photograph} of him tucked into the nook with the remainder of the web page lined by an enlarged image of his palm.
“What’s this?”
“Oh that. Someone is taking photographs of peoples’ palms.”
“What kind of people?” I requested, genuinely puzzled.
He didn’t reply.
I understood. People who had accomplished one thing nobody else may — excellent individuals whose contributions had been exceptional and unmatched.
A studious chap
Another distinguished individual I used to be working with at the similar time was Shiv Okay. Kumar, a poet, trainer, novelist and, earlier than he retired, vice-chancellor of Hyderabad University. On certainly one of his visits to my editorial, he seen M.S.S.’ books and mentioned, “Swami! Is Swami your author? We were in Cambridge together. Oh, what a studious chap he was. We could never get him to join us in the evenings. We would take a detour to his laboratory where he was eternally slicing potatoes. ‘Come with us, Swami,’ I’d say and he would say ‘No-no, you carry on… I’ve got work to get through.’ Whenever I taunted him about his potatoes, he would say, ‘One day you’ll know how important these potatoes were!’” (Not many individuals know that Swaminathan’s early analysis was on potatoes.) Years and years later, lengthy after M.S.S. grew to become well-known and faculty kids had been writing essays on the ‘Rice Man of India’, there was a operate in Hyderabad to which he was invited and introduced ceremoniously on to the stage. Kumar went as much as him, held his fingers and welcomed him with “Swami! You’re not still slicing potatoes, are you!”
In an anthology for undergraduates, the editor Velayudhan and I selected an excerpt from certainly one of M.S.S.’ articles on meals and famine. Since it was for English ‘main’, because it was identified, Velayudhan wished to shut with a poem about uncommon individuals. We chosen Rilke’s poem and my manufacturing editor steered we run it in M.S.S.’s handwriting (in picture).
The author coordinates a translation undertaking for the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
